The One.

Question 7: Someone who has made your life worth living.

What not to do.

Question 6: Something you hope you never do in your life.

Maybe I am superstitious but I am afraid to say things I hope to never do. Maybe I'm taking the safe way out, but there are so many things I could hope to never do!

So, let me go lighthearted on this question.

I hope I never ride in a old, smoking, rusted, suburban as our main car and especially not take it to St. Augustine to the outlet stores*watching all the people gasp for air as we drive by*....again.

I hope I never die my hair blonde from the box and it turn out half yellow and half red, 50 lbs overweight; with 4 inch long brown roots a few months later....again.

I hope I never eat pineapple pizza before I go into labor....again.

I know there are tons more, but that's all I have right now! Hope that entertained you, faithful reader!

Now where was I....

Oh yeah "Day 5"!!

Something you hope to do in your life.

I truly hope to raise my children well. There are many things that I hope I do, but everything always comes back to that. I hope that Joe and I live a life that is most conducive to the spiritual growth and overall well-being of our children. God, please give me strength to do this. You and I both know I need it every single minute of every day.

What love I have for them. A special love reserved for them. Please let me show them what I feel inside. That I never belittle them, or manipulate them in any way. And when I fall short, please help me make it right. Please help me to never be prideful. Help me show them how to spread their wings and fly. To soar, even. Please help me keep their wings healthy, that I don't clip them short.

Please help me show them how to feel the love you have for them. Help me show them how you can help them soar.

I hope to be the best mother and wife I can be.

Forgiveness Part 2

Day 4: Something you have to forgive someone else for.



I am not good at forgiving other people before they appologize, but I have learned the hard way that some appologies never ever come. Why live with the baggage?!



Today I forgive the middleschool boy at the bus stop that called me "ham bone"(I got skinny in 10th grade, HA!)



Today I forgive the girl who invited me to her birthday party and after getting her gift saying "Now I got what I wanted, you can leave"



Today I forgive the girl in fourth grade that would scratch me with mechanical pencil lead and caused me to have a stomach ache all year long.



Today I forgive that boy on the high school baseball team that told my friend he would never go out with my type.



Today I forgive Fat Jimmy for telling me he didn't talk to women, especially pregnant ones. The joke's on him; I haven't spoken back to him since!...that was five years ago and he stops by the house randomly saying hello.

Forgiveness

Day 3: Something you have to forgive yourself for.

This has been a hard question for me. I have spent 24 hours thinking of an answer and I am still at a loss. This question takes so huge of an answer and I haven't been able to water it down. I am assuming the question is directing itself towards something I have not yet forgiven myself for. I am a sinner. I am not perfect. I am not even close to perfect. I try. I try to apply the atonement in my life. Heavenly Father wants to forgive me for things I have done wrong and to teach me. I want to obey Him with all my heart; sometimes I am not the best at that but I want to, even yearn to.

When I realize I am not perfect and will sin here because satan is after me...forgiveness is the light I see at the end of the tunnel. Forgiveness is all we have. After doing wrong, I have to tell my Father, "I'm sorry". Without it I would be nothing. With it we can do anything.

I hope this is not a lame "Sunday School answer", because I mean it with all of my being:

I must forgive myself for all of my short-comings.

In saying that, here are some specifics!:

-Not being loving enough/saying I love you enough to people I deeply love and value...though I am working really hard at it!

-Laziness/idleness-not doing the things that really mean something in life

-Not sharing the gospel

-Comparing myself to others

-Wanting what others have

-Worrying about what others think

-Not keeping the Sabbath Day holy

I have to forgive myself for these things repeatedly. I do actually try to fix most of these earnestly. I know the key is to keep moving forward.

Forgiveness is the engine driving me forward.

What not to love?! HA!

Day 2: Something you love about yourself.

I love my undying optimism.

Sometimes I try to be pityful just for the sake of being noticed, maybe? But in the back of my head I ALWAYS have a voice inside me saying..."There is a solution to this"...

Right now is a time where I am having to rely on this more than ever. I like to think it is the light of Christ, even the Holy Ghost, that is the voice I hear. I don't know if those reading this believe in the zodiac, but I believe the alignment of the stars and the universe do play a role in our personalities...under the direction of Heavenly Father of course. Leo's are known for persistence and being strong-willed. I try to always ask myself if I am choosing the right, or not. Adjust accordingly, and try to do better.

Attitude makes the difference, that was our high school band motto. It is a motto I still try to live by.

~Let me add as a sidenote that optimism should not include denial. Acceptance is as much a part of optimism as anything. A vital part, actually.~

Something to blog about

I decided to play along with you 'Quesas! At least maybe it will make me think about blogging each day for the next 30 days and maybe take my mind of the chaos around me for 30 mins or so...although I could be sleeping right now. Hmmm, decisions decisions...nonetheless here goes!

Day1: Something you hate about yourself.

-I hate that I procrastinate. Why is it so hard to start early? I just don't have the drive to do things unless I feel pressure.

-I hate that I am hard-hearted. I am very cut and dry, maybe too cut and dry.

-I hate that I can't discerne if someone is genuine or up to no good. I can always be dooped. That doesn't help the hard-heartedness.

-I hate that I am not more girly...in all aspects. Cleaning, ironing, cooking, being thoughtful, painting my nails, having more than one pair of shoes...that aren't five or ten years old. These things don't come naturally to me. This goes back to being cut and dry...I think most of the things I dislike are linked together. If I could only find to beginning dominoe, I think I could make a huge impact on my life!

This has been fun! I even learned some new things about myself. A little constructive criticism never hurt anyone:) Until tomorrow folks!

From this moment, on...

We had a great festive month. Our annual visit to the pumpkin patch was a blast, and Joe's parents joined us on the adventure this year!



The Stansel girls always go for the biggest...they are definately not weaklings. It's like they are "Barbie meets Xena"!



She's on the hunt!




Just a picture of the girls playing. I thought the sun was just shining perfectly on them that day.






Our first halloween decoration of the year! Spider webs! What's funny is we had just cleaned out real ones...






Halloween bundt cake anyone?!







Mallorie frosting the cake by herself.


On to Thanksgiving!

One year old

If I have to turn 27, the only thing making that okay in this universe is the fact that this year passed with such joy. I could not have asked for a sweeter child to be a mother to. Brianna has made each of our lives happier and brighter. She has such a beautiful smile and sweet spirit. Happy first birthday! We all love you so much.

Can you believe it?? 9 months!

What we've been up to this week

Ruby Falls- Chattanooga, TN

So this week is Mallorie's spring break so we decided to take a trip. Anyone ever been to Ruby Falls? Beautiful water fall inside Lookout Mtn. We went 260' straight down into a rock, walked through a cave, and then saw the most beautiful water fall. I mean really, you had to be there. When I came out my hair was extremely frizzy because of all the mist in there! Oh well, I'm not too keen on what I look like here lately anyway:P

This is us panning for gemstones...er, "jewels" I mean. *Notice extremely frizzy hair*

Our campsite near Raccoon Mountain, behind us in the picture is Lookout Mountain. *No, Mallorie is not sporting a mullet hairstyle, guess it was just her bad luck that her sis was pulling her hair up...as for me, no excuse:P* The go-cart track...er, "Mario Kart" track behind us was pretty fun!! As I was driving Mal in the double-seater she asked me if the door was nailed shut! It did feel like we were going to fly out!

Just wanted to make note that Bri is pulling up on EVERYTHING now!

My beautiful girls.

Let me not forget the easter egg hunt last weekend:

Now we're visiting some of Joe's folks and he's trying to fix their car...cross your fingers and send up a prayer or two:P

Happiness is: